Emotional Explanation
by whydontyouallf-fadeaway
Summary: When Tim is remanded in custody for his embezzlement charge, Marcella decides it's time for an overdue heart-to-heart.


Tim sits in a police cell down in the custody of the police station. He had no idea why this was happening; he felt confused, lost and angry. Everything he had was slowly slipping away from him, and nobody had given him a chance to explain. Tim had spent the over 15 years putting people who actually deserved it into one of these cells, and never did he expect to find himself in one.

He knew that Vince Whitman had stitched him up, and he started to realise that Maya had too. Sat on the edge of the uncomfortable bed, he placed his head in his hands and groaned in frustration. Keys jangled outside the door and the door opened. He raised his head from his hands and a sense of relief washed over him when he saw Marcella walk through the open door. "I can give you ten minutes." the police officer tells Marcella.

"Thanks." she mumbles. The police officer leaves and Marcella stands staring at Tim, "What the hell have you gotten yourself into?" she asks. Tim takes a deep breath and suddenly his emotional barrier started to crack.

Marcella slowly walked over and sat on the edge bed next to him. He knew the severity of the situation he had gotten himself into, and it wasn't looking good at all. Tim never showed his emotion to anyone and he could feel that slowly becoming difficult.

"Tell me what this is about." she requested. Marcella was still angry with him, she had every right to be, but she still cared about him, and she knew that he wouldn't intentionally have gotten himself messed up in something as serious as this.

"I have been suspended for supposedly embezzling money through the foundation." he confirmed. A lump began to grow in his throat, it was hard enough to actually realise it was happening, but to say it out loud made it feel much more real. Before, he could just try and block it all out, but now it's all he could think about. Having Marcella close to him again made him realise what he let go of, who he let go of and who he let push him away so easily. "I swear. I swear to you, Marcella. I didn't do this." his voice cracked and quivered.

Marcella saw as his eyes began to glisten and tears gathered in them. She believed him and even she now began to regret not giving him a chance to explain himself with the whole Maya thing, now he had that chance and all she wanted was for him to take it. "But you and Maya..."

"There was no me and Maya." he insisted. "I never cheated on you. I wouldn't. And if you think that after everything we've been through, everything I've ever felt for you that I would, then you're very much mistaken." the emotion grew in Tim's voice. Marcella had known him a long time now and she had never seen him like this.

She had started to regret always pushing him away. Their fight in the kitchen when she asked for his key back was the last thing she wanted. "I was angry."

"I know. I probably would've been too." he said. A tear fell from his eye and settled half way down his cheek, "But you never gave me a chance to explain."

"Well, now I am." she told him. "Tell me everything."

Tim rubbed his hand over his face, removing the moisture and tears from around his eyes, but even he couldn't promise that they wouldn't come back. "When I got the promotion, I was given a case; a case against Maya. I was told to work on it in my own time or whenever we didn't have a big case. They also told me that I had to get close to Maya, as close as needed." Marcella looked away for a moment, she had kept her eyes firmly centred on Tim until that moment.

He hated the fact she looked away at that moment

"I never got that close. I flirted. I never told you because the thought of having to tell you that I had to even pretend to be interested in anyone but you broke me." he admitted as his voice broke once more under the strain of the emotions that began to overwhelm him again. His eyes glossed over and shined when his eyes welled up with tears, he licked his lips and lowered his head sadly, "But I'm telling you, Marcella. I never, ever slept with her."

"And what about this embezzlement accusation?"

"It's not true." he said. Tim runs his hands through his hair, "They stitched me up." he chuckles, "I spent the last few months making a case against her and the pair of them potentially pick apart my entire police career in a few hours."

Tim laughed about it, but it was out of pure irony. "No. I won't let that happen." Marcella reassured him. All she wanted was the truth, and it annoyed her that it's had to get to this before she got it. Tim's emotion made her sad, if only he had said this before they argued and maybe she wouldn't have been too quick to push him away.

The door to Tim's cell re-opened and Marcella looked at Tim, their eyes locked before Marcella finally leaned in and pressed her lips to his. She breaks it off and Tim smirks before stroking her face briefly. It reminded her of the old times, and she smiled.

Standing up, Tim's hand grasped hers lightly and she let it slide out as she made her way out of the room, "I will try and get you out of here and you can come back home."

That was music to Tim's ears, but he was prepared for it to not be a promise. His eyes lifted to look at her once more as she stood in the doorway and she saw the tears still surround his eyes. They smiled at each other and she left the room.

When she was gone, Tim took a deep breath; he didn't know if it was relief that someone was actually trying to help, or whether it was a sad sigh of his situation. Either way, the tears fell once more, and though it was something he rarely did, it felt good to let it out.


End file.
